2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 133 Endorsement Confirmed
July 5, 2005, Tuesday, sunny.

Shanghai, HP District.

Located very close to Jinling Road, on the 12th floor of the Huasheng Building on Jiujiang Road, also known as Ermalu (Second Road), Tianyu Media, established in May 2004, is situated here.

Most people assume that this agency, which has a close relationship with Hunan TV, is based in Changsha, but it is actually registered in Shanghai.

The reason for this is unknown, but it is nothing more than that Shanghai is an international metropolis with convenient transportation, and many celebrities gather here, making it convenient to conduct business.

At 11 a.m., Manyang walked into the office in a daze; he had gone to bed too late last night.

After dozing off at her workstation for a while, her assistant walked over with a suspicious look on her face: "Sister Yang, there's an invitation for a commercial endorsement here."

"A commercial endorsement? How did they find me?" Manyang asked with a look of surprise.

She doesn't have any famous stars under her wing yet, just some talent show contestants who haven't officially debuted. Why would a company want her for commercial endorsements? Could she be a scammer?

"Hehe, it's an electric vehicle company. The local government issued a letter of introduction, so it should be genuine. Take a look," the assistant said with a grin.

Manyang took a look and laughed, "Oh, you're looking for our Brother Chun, you have good taste."

Manyang hasn't been a manager for long; she was previously an assistant. With the rise of Super Girl, there was a shortage of manpower, so she was promoted internally. However, as a professional, she has good judgment; at least Chun Ge's fans are really strong and have a particularly strong sense of unity.

This was her first formal commercial endorsement offer, but why an electric vehicle company? What did they see in Chris Lee? His fans' purchasing power? They didn't offer a price, only a range.

"What should we do? Should we accept it?" the assistant asked from the side.

“Accept it! Why wouldn’t we accept it? We have a letter of introduction from the government and a formal endorsement offer. Why wouldn’t we accept it?” Manyang said without hesitation.

However, before accepting the offer, you should first learn about the company. You should be more cautious when you receive an endorsement invitation for the first time.

"Have someone investigate this company, see if it's legitimate, how big it is, and if necessary, you can even visit them in person. Ningbo isn't far," Manyang said to his assistant.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

After the assistant left, Manyang stared at the fax for a while longer, then chuckled and said, "This means they're about to open for business and make money."

An agent's income is directly linked to the celebrity's commercial performances and endorsements. The more the celebrity earns, the more the agent earns. For someone like Ji Ji, who has just been promoted from assistant and doesn't have any connections or resources, it's somewhat difficult for her to secure official endorsements on her own.

Most of the time it's just commercial performances, but since the competition is still ongoing, he can't accept commercial performances. Besides, during the break, he has to go back to school.

If Chris Lee could secure a formal commercial endorsement before his debut, it would be highly beneficial for both him and himself.

But the premise is that it must be a legitimate brand and the company must not have any problems. As for other things, as a complete newcomer, I am not qualified to talk about them at this time. No matter how promising or talented you are, it is useless before you realize your potential.

About half an hour later, the assistant returned and presented Manyang with information about Flash Automotive.

As a company with state-owned background, Jiji has a wide network of connections. The endorsements are based on formal contracts, and the company places great importance on background checks.

"Wow, this electric vehicle company was only established this year, with a registered capital of 10 million yuan and a trademark that hasn't been registered for very long. The estimated annual output value is 100 million yuan?" Manyang exclaimed as he looked at it.

She doesn't quite understand these business details yet, but celebrity endorsements are quite chaotic these days, with people accepting any kind of endorsement, let alone a company with all the necessary qualifications. An annual output value of 100 million yuan is considered a medium-sized or larger company, which is quite a stretch for a talent show contestant who hasn't even debuted yet.

Huh? The founder is only 19 years old? Is that right?
"The boss of this company is only 19 years old? Is there a mistake?" Manyang looked at the assistant with a puzzled expression.

"It's not wrong. I was also confused when I first saw it. I thought it was wrong, so I checked it again."

Man Yang stroked his chin, wondering if this was a spokesperson a fan had found for their company. It was quite possible.

Generally speaking, endorsement fees for newcomers who haven't debuted won't be very high. Those without talent or future prospects will basically be ignored. Even if someone happens to be lucky, they won't get a high price. People with high popularity, like Li Yuchun, will get slightly higher fees, but not by much.

彼时一般一线明星的代言费基本在500万到2000万之间，二线明星200万到500万之间，三四线明星则是50万到200万之间，这个价格都是每两年合同期的。

Currently, the highest endorsement fee for a male celebrity is Chow Yun-fat, at HK$1200 million every two years. Among female celebrities, it is Faye Wong, whose endorsement fee is HK$2000 million every two years. The most popular actress right now, Zhao Ling'er, has an endorsement fee of around HK$300 million.

Female celebrities earn more for endorsements than male celebrities. Although Chun Ge is popular, she hasn't officially debuted yet, and the outcome of the competition is still unknown. If she fails in the competition, her popularity will disappear quickly, and she won't even be considered a fourth-tier celebrity.

Should we rip off the fans now, or wait until the competition is over and the rankings are determined before taking the job?

"So, how much should we quote? They want us to reply within two days," the assistant couldn't help but ask when Man Yang remained silent.

"Let me contact Brother Chun first, there's still time." Manyang hesitated, wanting to accept the call, but unsure how much to ask for at this point.

Quoting 50 yuan feels like a loss, but quoting 200 million yuan, the maximum for a third-tier celebrity, might scare the other party away. Since he's a company CEO, even fans can't rip him off like that.

Two million? Why not spend a little more to hire Zhao Ling'er? A company with an annual output value of one hundred million wouldn't be short of one million. Let's ask Chun Ge's opinion first, after all, she's the person involved. This is the weakness of a rookie agent. If it were a top agent, encountering this kind of opportunity where a suspected fan is seeking an endorsement, they wouldn't care about such things and would go all out.

"Hey, Chun-ge? Is anyone with you? If no one's here, that's great, I have some wonderful news!"

After a half-hour call, Manyang said to his assistant who was still waiting beside him, "Try 100 million. If they don't agree, we can lower it a bit, but the bottom line is 80."

50 yuan is definitely not an option. With her current popularity, regardless of how the finals go, she can at least make it into the top 10. Her popularity in the short term is not much less than Zhao Ling'er's. Offering the lowest price of 50 yuan would be too much of a loss.

Although the other party is suspected to be a fan, they are not the kind of mindless fan. Choosing this time to extend the endorsement invitation and giving only two days to respond is very clever. It is fine not to accept, but if you accept, both parties are gambling. It remains to be seen who wins the gamble.

But no matter what, we can't possibly lose. We've already received endorsement offers before even debuting, which is a great publicity point. It shows that we're not as commercially valuable as some people say due to our image.

Tan Jincheng, on the other hand, only saw the email in the afternoon.

"One million? That's not too outrageous, haha." Tan Jincheng laughed.

I've been looking into celebrity endorsement rates these past few days. These days, celebrity endorsements haven't gone through inflation, so they're relatively cheap. Xiao Liu's endorsement starts at only 300 million yuan. I might actually consider the Fengchi series in the future.

Fengchi and Shanchi have different positioning. Fengchi is more aimed at urban groups, and Xiao Liu's image is relatively suitable. If she has money, she should ask Jay Chou to be her co-endorser.

Unfortunately, we're still poor. If we had more funds, we could just hire Xiao Liu. Who cares if she fits the brand image? Her brand awareness would be much higher.

These days, who the hell cares whether your product matches the celebrity's image? Didn't you see how my brother Long dared to accept the Little Tyrant game console?

The email contained the agent's contact information, and the offer of 100 million was reasonable, especially considering it was a two-year contract—they were making a killing!
However, we need to find a different way to give this 100 million; we can't just agree to it directly.

Thinking of this, Tan Jincheng dialed his agent's number without hesitation. What do they call him in the entertainment industry again? Teacher? Doesn't that sound a bit awkward?

"Hello." A female voice came from the other end of the phone.

Huh? It's a woman? I thought it was a man based on the name.

"Hello, is this Man Yang's agent? This is Tan Jincheng from Shanchi Automotive, the one who sent the endorsement invitation."

Man Yang's eyes lit up. Wow, it seems to be a fan. The boss contacted them personally, so there shouldn't be any problem securing this endorsement.

"Hello, Mr. Tan, this is Manyang."

"100 million is no problem, but I have a suggestion regarding the contract, I don't know if you can accept it."

"President Tan, please speak," Manyang said calmly.

"First of all, may I ask how many members does Brother Chun's team have right now?" Tan Jincheng asked, stroking his chin.

"For now, there are only three: me, and a little assistant. When Brother Chun is at school, the little assistant is with me."

Only three people? Damn, celebrities these days are really "simple". In later generations, those minor celebrities had to hire a bunch of bodyguards to clear the way when they went out. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Chun Ge was still a student at this time.

Although Tan Jincheng doesn't appreciate Chun Ge, he still admires him in terms of professional skills, professional ethics, and personal image. He has been in the entertainment industry for more than 10 years without any major scandals, which is not easy even if he is pretending.

“It’s still 1 million, but our contract states the endorsement fee is 800,000. If Chun Ge wins the championship, the extra 200,000 will be paid to her personally, plus an 80,000 bonus for the manager and 20,000 for the assistant. All the extras are after-tax income and can be written into the contract terms. What do you think?”

20 yuan is enough to buy a small apartment in Chengdu, right? As for the agent's income, it is linked to the star's income. 8 yuan may not be much for the agent, but it is a matter of attitude.

Man Yang was taken aback. Was winning the championship so easy? This was decided by audience votes. You couldn't manipulate it even if you wanted to. Wasn't this just a disguised form of bargaining?

However, getting 80 is already acceptable, and this is the bottom line for both myself and Brother Chun. In addition, the way this bargaining method is also quite comfortable.

"Is Mr. Tan a fan of our Brother Chun? Otherwise, your way of bargaining is quite unique," Manyang said with a smile.

"Ah, yes, yes, I'm a fan of Brother Chun. I'm not haggling. I absolutely believe Brother Chun will win. I'm just doing this so that my idol can get the biggest benefit. After all, the bulk of the contract goes to your company, I understand."

I'm not entirely sure if it'll be a success! Okay, but he's not wrong either. The bulk of the contract is with the company, so let's leave it at that. The company agreed to 80.

"Haha, thank you so much, Mr. Tan, for thinking so highly of our Brother Chun. It's settled then. I'll send you a contract template later, and we'll discuss any necessary modifications as soon as possible."

"No problem. We can discuss the timing of the commercial shoot later. Also, does your agency have any advertising companies you could recommend? I don't know much about these things."

Man Yang's eyes lit up. Interesting. This young man is quite interesting.

P.S.: Don't take the endorsement fee too seriously. It was roughly the standard for that era, so don't worry too much about any discrepancies. (I didn't receive any money for this.)

(End of this chapter)